Show me the job security: Business students gravitating to civil service for employment protection

Job security luring more business students into civil service

Economic volatility and high unemployment are increasingly prompting enterprising and profit-oriented Canadian business students to set their sights on the public sector, which they see as a beacon of security and opportunity for career development.

Data obtained by the Financial Post from international research company Universum shows that when asked to rank their most ideal employers, the 3,500 Canadian business students polled place numerous public-sector institutions in the Top 20 (scroll down to bottom of page for full rankings).

In fact, the government of Canada, which ranks third overall, is seen as a more ideal employer among business students than any of Canada’s Big Five banks and highly reputable organizations such as Microsoft Corp., Ernst & Young, Bell Canada, Sony Corp. and Facebook Inc. Other public-sector organizations within the Top 20 include the Canada Revenue Agency, the Bank of Canada and provincial governments.

Melissa Burdette, research project manager for Universum’s Americas region, says the numbers are indicative of a rising desire among business students to find employers offering job security.

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“Taking a look at the government of Canada, they’re actually the most associated with security for business students and rank No. 3 for security among engineering and IT students,” she says. The federal service ranks particularly high among scholars studying finance, financial management, international business, banking and economics.

In addition to job security, students are also looking for respectful employers and high future earnings, the latter of which is typically more attractive in the public sector at the junior level, at which pay can be significantly more than the private sector.

Each year, about 10,000 students across all educational disciplines gain exposure to federal public-service employment through part-time and summer jobs offered by the Public Service Commission’s Federal Student Work Experience Program. In addition, many students take advantage of coop internship programs while others are drawn in by targeted recruitment programs for specific skill sets that may be lacking within the government of Canada’s existing labour pool.

Joanne Lalonde, director general of National Client Services at the PSC, said that in her experience most of the students that come to the public service do so for altruistic reasons — to make a difference in society and contribute to the safety, health and well-being of Canadians.

“To work in any government department in any of the fields of business administration, you can have a significant impact on those things,” Ms. Lalonde said, adding that students are also attracted by the career growth potential the public service offers through its estimated 200,000 positions across 1,000 job types.

University officials say the research results are likely reflective of the preferences of younger, undergraduate business students, whose employment targets tend to change once they pass through graduate school or enter the job market.

“If you look at the placement data from the business schools, the public sector makes up such a small segment of that placement data,” said Cynthia Bishop, director of student life, career services and alumni at the University of Toronto. “Ultimately, we’re seeing the students gravitating toward the big accounting firms, the banks, the consulting firms.”

Her comments are echoed by Joseph Palumbo, executive director of York University’s Schulich School of Business Career Development Centre, who noted government institutions tend to have a muted impression on students, who prefer to be wooed by aggressive recruiters.

“What I find is that our students need more attention and more employers in front of them and wanting them; they want to feel like they’re being recruited,” he said.